Persistent
by Canute
Summary: Prom happens to be coming up. Unfortunately - or maybe not so - for Loki, it seems that Thor Odinson has taken a liking to him.


a/n:  
In the middle of writing a chapter for TFTOS, my hand slipped. My hand slipped a lot.

more high school AU nonsense

* * *

Persistent  
(Or, "The Ten Times It Took For Loki To Finally Say Yes")

It's like this: Thor is the one with the golden blond hair and azure blue eyes and boyish charm that teachers and students alike can't resist. Thor is the one everyone adores.

Loki is the one who is a little too pale, a little too skinny, a little too lanky, with eyes that would have been mass murderers if looks could kill. Loki is the one who everyone skirts around when he walks in the hallways.

It's like this: Thor is happy and optimistic and so disgustingly bright, with a flotilla of fans and friends always nipping at his heels wherever he goes.

Loki is dry and sarcastic and the closest friends he has are Darcy and Tony(mainly because they are the only ones who don't break under his ruthless criticisms).

It's like this: Prom is coming up, and there are fliers _everywhere_ advertising it.

It's like this: Thor is asking Loki to prom.

The first time, Thor appears next to Loki as the latter is retrieving his books from his locker. "Loki, will you go to prom with me?" asks Thor, eyes ever bright and tone ever brighter, cheeks flustered lightly as he awaits his answer. Behind him are his friends, and even without looking at them, Loki can imagine their mocking expressions.

"No," Loki says flatly, and politely slams his locker in Thor's face. Then he walks away to first period.

"Thor did _what_?" Darcy exclaims during second period. "And you did _what_?"

Loki hisses at her to shut up because they are in the middle of a test.

The next day, Thor is standing in front of his locker again, resembling every bit of the lost puppy that Loki sometimes imagines him to be. "Hey," he says when he first spots the younger boy, and Loki immediately spins on his heels and starts heading in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" Then there is a hand on his shoulder, and if there are two things Loki hates the most, they are: skin contact, and Thor Odinson making said skin contact.

Tony's locker is just a few feet away and, for once, Loki hopes he comes barging into the conversation to valiantly save Loki from this oversized high schooler. "What," he says, more of a demand than anything, and looks up at Thor.

"Well, um." Thor's hand is still on his shoulder. His other hand comes up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's just that- you didn't give me a reason _why_ you said no..."

"I said no because I don't want to go with you," Loki says, and politely slaps his hand away and storms off to find Tony.

By the third time they meet, Loki is tired of seeing Thor. He doesn't give the older boy a chance to say anything and asks, snappish, "Don't you have other friends?"

"Yes," Thor answers, looking puzzled, "but you're the one I want to go to prom with."

"You're insufferable," Loki tells him politely, and leaves the classroom.

The fourth time they meet, Loki whirls around and says, not quite shouting but loud enough to be heard down the hallway, "Leave me alone!"

Thor looks kind of hurt and lets him go. Loki feels kind of smug but also kind of guilty. He continues down the hall to physics.

"Is he still bothering you?" asks Tony during lunch. He's chewing a mouthful of doughnut, but that doesn't stop him from talking.

"I don't get why you're so mean to him," sighs Darcy, resting her chin on her hand.

"I have no business with him, and he has no business with me," Loki answers gruffly, practically stabbing his pudding with his fork. "If I do, I'm going to spend the whole dance looking for him, only to find in the end that everyone's been laughing at me, because it was a joke, and I was the idiot who fell for it."

"I dunno, Loki," Tony comments, his eyes flickering to somewhere behind the raven-haired teen. "He seems pretty sincere."

When Loki turns, Thor is walking towards him with what looks like flowers in his arms.

Loki promptly exits to go eat in Miss Hill's classroom.

The fifth time they meet, it's at the end of the day and Loki is walking back to his car. When he catches sight of it, he realizes that Thor has conveniently parked next to him.

The brute himself is standing near his own car with his merry little band of friends, laughing and chortling about something.

Seeing no other route, Loki takes a deep breath and forges on.

"Oh, hey Princess!" calls one of the buffoons.

"How big is the stick that's in your ass today?" chimes another.

Loki's resolve to ignore them crumples and he turns to hurl an insult, only to find the group completely silent. Thor is standing over two other boys, both of which are holding their noses. He thinks he catches sight of blood.

"Do _not_ say anything like that ever again," Thor practically snarls.

Loki politely gets in his car and drives away.

The sixth time they meet, Thor is helping him up from the ground after a conveniently jutting leg conveniently tripped him, conveniently making his nose feel like utter shit.

Thor is asking him if he's okay, but Loki (_politely!_) shoves him away and scrambles to his feet, feet pounding loudly against the tiled floor as he runs to his car.

The seventh time, Loki shrieks at him, _"Why can't you take a hint I don't like you I absolutely loathe you just leave me alone!"_

He politely throws the bouquet of roses to the ground and grinds his heel on them. Then Darcy has to pull him away.

The eighth time, Thor shows up on his doorstep. Loki is too busy nursing his bruised nose to remember to check the windows and opens the door without thinking.

He moves to slam it shut, only for Thor to stick his foot between the door and the frame. "I'm not afraid to smash your foot," Loki politely warns with a growl.

Thor thrusts a second bouquet of flowers at him. This time they're lilies. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"Not now that you're here," is the flippant answer.

It elicits a sigh from Thor. "Do you really hate me that much?" he says, and his voice is soft and his eyes lose a little bit of their brightness.

Loki looks at the flowers. At him. Mutters, grudgingly, "No."

"Then why do you..." Thor makes a vague hand gesture that Loki does not understand at all.

"Because you have no reason to like someone like me," he replies, and his own words sting a little. "Because this is a joke."

"I punched two guys for you," Thor says helplessly. "I got in trouble because I threatened those two guys to never come near you again, or I would make sure they would never be able to have children."

"Well, I didn't ask you to do any of that," Loki snaps.

"I know. I wanted to do all that for you. I _want_ to take you to prom. And if not, I... I want to at least be your friend." And Thor withdraws his foot.

Loki doesn't close the door. Fifteen seconds later, he furtively reaches for the flowers.

"You aren't going to destroy them again, are you?" Thor asks, a small smile pulling at his lips.

Loki tells himself that he hates this boy. "No promises," he says, takes the flowers, and politely closes the door. He would never admit it, but he goes upstairs and watches through a window as Thor gets into his car. He thinks he catches a glimpse of a smile on Thor's face, and he thinks he may be smiling, too.

When Thor has driven away, Loki goes to find a vase.

That night, he thinks very long and very hard.

The ninth time, it's just him and Thor, after the latter followed him outside during lunch. "So I can't even be your friend?" he says after a period of silence.

Loki does not answer him because he is not sure.

The tenth time is at prom. Tony and Darcy are making fools of themselves on the dance floor. Everyone gives him looks that vary between annoyance, mockery, and wariness. Loki ignores them all and tries not to regret going to this idiotic event.

When he finally finds Thor, standing alone to the side with a cup of punch in his hand, he says, "Is it too late for me to say yes?"

Thor blinks. "What?"

Loki's gaze is even. "I want to go to prom with you."

Thor's smile is blinding. He puts down his cup and pulls Loki close, his arms secure around the smaller frame and his head buried in the crook of his neck. Neither say anything and that's okay.

It's like this: Prom is over. Everyone is filtering through the exits, stumbling for their cars. A single couple stays in the middle of the dance floor, swaying back and forth to their own rhythm. Sometime during then, Loki thinks he might have grabbed Thor's head and kissed him.

(It's not a very polite kiss but neither are complaining.)


End file.
